Under the direction of Daniel Britt and his wife the school continued to progress; most gratifying was the increase of the regular attendance to about eighty, which was as large as could be conveniently accommodated in the two schools.[1205] The services of Britt and his wife ceased in the period from 1795 to 1798, the latter having died and the former being aged and infirm. The master’s place was taken by Elisha Pickering, at a salary now grown to £150 per year. That of the mistress still remained at the mark of former years, £50. The amount of annual rents had increased to £190/9/11 and besides this there was an interest from £146/7 which was a part of the bequest of Anthony Benezet.[1206] The annual expenditures were estimated at £230, which considerably exceeded the income. It was customary to require tuition for the children whose masters were “bound by indenture to give them school learning,” and from this source was eked out the sum necessary to defray expenses.[1207] There is found no statement in the committee’s reports to indicate the amount of tuition usually demanded. The following bill may be of interest, however, since it shows various items of expenditures of the school committee.[1208] Committee of education, to Othneil Alsop, Dr. 1797 9-23. Cash advance to Bustill $ 10.00 9-30. Paid J. Schæffer for 4 benches for North Liberties School 3.50 24 printed alphabets .27 6 spelling books 1.50 10-2. Paid A. Williams quarter’s salary 25.00 10-28. Advanced Cyrus Bustill 10.00 11-6. Two cords of wood, hauling, etc. 12.35 ------ Total $62.62 [Sidenote: Summer and winter sessions] From available records it is impossible to give more than an elementary knowledge of how the school was run. Nothing is found concerning the inner organization. We can know its purposes, its means at command for attaining them, and approximately the number of children it was able to reach. The length of school term is not quite clear; it seems evident that there were summer and winter sessions, how long we do not know, and that there was scarcely any interruption of their continuity. Occurrences which caused an interruption of the session usually were commented on in the committee’s reports.[1209] A summary of the report showing the status of the schools in 1800 is given below.[1210] At that time they were under the direction of committees of the northern, central, and southern districts. [Sidenote: Status of Negro schools in 1800] 1. Benjamin Mears, master at $500 a year; Elizabeth Meccum, mistress at £50 per year. 2. Schools have been kept open throughout the year 1798-99 with the exception of twelve weeks on account of sickness.